Door assemblies for an instrument cabinet can have a front door for a 19″ rack which may alternatively be hinged on the right or left sides. Depending on the prevailing conditions, the customer decides which hinge side is better and is to be in a position to implement this as simply as possible by performing a conversion.
One solution is to turn the door through 180° (to put it upside down) and, hence, to change the hinge side. A disadvantage of this is that the entire design is upside down (logos, design elements). Moreover, this solution requires the door to be of symmetrical construction for all the functional elements such as the handle and the lock, as well.
Another solution is to leave the door in its orientation and to remount all the functional parts (hinges, handles and opener, lock) to switch sides. That solution is relatively complex.
DE 10 2007 012 980 A1 discloses a door assembly for closing a housing aperture having a first hinge, which is constructed on a first hinge side of the door leaf, and a second hinge side, which is opposite the first hinge side and on which a second hinge is constructed. With an actuating element that has the three actuation positions “closed,” “disengage the first hinge” and “disengage the second hinge,” the first and second hinges can, together with the actuating element, form a closing mechanism that, depending on the actuation position of the actuating element at one or both hinge sides of the door leaf, form a hinge or a closure.